


Yellow Cake, Chocolate Frosting

by lovalovaolivia



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Baker Louis, Birthday, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, M/M, baby boyfriends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-15
Updated: 2019-07-15
Packaged: 2020-06-28 11:06:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19811005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovalovaolivia/pseuds/lovalovaolivia
Summary: Louis bakes Harry a cake for his birthday. Interesting results ensue.





	Yellow Cake, Chocolate Frosting

Louis’ alarm sounded on February 2nd bright and early at seven o’clock. He groaned and shut it off before remembering what day it was and then promptly jumping out of bed.

February 2nd wasn’t Harry’s birthday, the 1st was. But for Louis, February 2nd was as close as it was going to get this year. Anne had insisted that Harry go back to Holmes Chapel for his birthday this year, as it coincided with a rare break the band had. Louis was of course invited, except he had more recording to do in the studio which required him to stay in London.

The agreement that had been settled on was that Harry would have a birthday celebrations on the 1st in Holmes Chapel before travelling back to London on the 2nd. Harry had already said he wanted Chinese food when he returned, and Louis had put in their order a week ago and called back twice since to ensure the order hadn’t gotten lost.

However, Harry hadn’t specified what he had wanted for dessert. It was only a few nights ago that Louis had decided - with great optimism - he would bake Harry a homemade birthday cake.

One of the most famous facts about Harry was that he once worked in a bakery. Louis had spent the better part of their relationship reaping benefits from his past job. Harry loved to bake, and last year he had made Louis’ birthday cake. It was delicious of course, but Harry hardly took a bite, too focused on Louis’ reaction to eat himself.

He would never forget the look of relief on Harry’s face when he moaned after taking the first bite. Louis didn’t even have a favorite cake until Harry had made him the rich red velvet dessert with cream cheese frosting. Now it was his go-to answer whenever somebody would ask.

It seemed only fitting that Louis would reciprocate the gesture. Louis had concentrated his memory for a long time, trying to remember if Harry had a favorite kind of cake. But quite honestly Harry would eat any sweet in front of him with enthusiasm. Therefore, Louis had researched recipes online constantly until finally deciding on a yellow cake with chocolate frosting. It was classic, well-reviewed, and most importantly, easy to bake.

Louis wandered out into the kitchen and began to make himself a cuppa. Usually Harry made them both tea in the morning, but with him being in Holmes Chapel, Louis had to forage for himself.

Louis blew gently on his cuppa to cool it down before surveying the kitchen. On the counter was all the ingredients he would need for his big surprise. He had gone grocery shopping the previous day and felt too smug for his own good as he picked out the supplies.

He had even skipped over the pre-made chocolate frosting in the plastic containers the store carried. Louis was certain that he would bake every part of it himself, just as Harry had done for him.

Louis finished his morning cuppa and set it in the sink to wash later. He rubbed his hands together excitedly and brought his attention to the recipe he had printed.

“Alright, Tommo,” he muttered to himself. “Let’s do this.”

First step was to preheat the oven. Easy. Louis walked over to the oven confidently and looked at the gleaming buttons. He punched in the correct temperature and smirked as he heard the oven begin to whir.

Feeling a bounce in his step, Louis walked back to the recipe and looked at the next step. Whisk together eggs, milk, and vanilla.

Louis pulled out a small bowl and poured in the milk and vanilla. He pulled out four eggs from the fridge before faltering. Harry had shown him how to crack eggs open before, but now doing it himself proved a challenge.

Louis gripped the egg tightly and gently tapped it against the rim of the bowl. Nothing happened, not even a tiny crack. He brought it down with more force, but the shell refused to yield. Louis grunted and hit it harder on the rim. The egg exploded this time, breaking into seemingly a million pieces.

“Bloody hell!”

Louis hastily scooped out the obvious pieces of eggshell from the milk and vanilla. The yolk of the egg stared up at him, broken and an ugly yellow color. Harry’s egg yolks were always intact and somehow seemed prettier. Louis straightened himself out and picked up the next one.

His fingers were slick from the previous egg, but he concentrated on his grip and managed to break it open more easily. By the time he had finished putting the eggs into the milk and vanilla, he had only dropped one other.

The instructions said to whisk the ingredients together. Louis found a whisk in one of the drawers and began to stir how Harry had shown him.

Louis remembered _that_ interview with a smile. He and Harry got so much shit for it after it ended, and Modest demanded that it be wiped away from as many places as it could. He and Harry didn’t mean to flirt with each other that much, but there was only so much self-control they had around one another, especially while doing domestic chores.

With the milk, vanilla, and eggs thoroughly whisked, Louis turned to the next step. In a standing mixer, he was supposed to stir flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt all together. The “dry” ingredients, as they were called. Louis hesitated.

But what was a standing mixer? Did he and Harry even own one of those? Louis gulped before just getting out a regular bowl and spatula. He would do it the old fashioned way, nothing wrong with that. He poured in the flour, sugar, and salt before getting out the baking powder.

Louis squinted as he read the label. What he had was baking soda, not baking powder. Was there a difference? He didn’t think so. Louis shrugged before carrying on with his substitution. 

He vigorously folded in all of the dry ingredients in the bowl. A splash of flour ended up on his jumper, but if anything it made him more excited. Louis began to understand why Harry liked baking so much. It was actually fun, and Louis’ sense of accomplishment was growing every moment.

Next, Louis had to add butter to his dry mix. The recipe specified that the butter must be softened. What did that even mean?

Louis glanced down at his butter, which he had already cut into cubes. He decided to mush the butter cubes with a spoon to “soften” them before plopping them into the mix. He began to stir that together with great difficulty, as the butter cubes were clumping together instead of evening throughout the mix.

After a while Louis decided to move onto the next step, hoping that it would help his butter distribute. The recipe told him to add the milk, vanilla, and eggs into the bowl and mix until combined.

Only spilling a little bit on the counter, Louis poured the first bowl into the second, and slowly began to stir the batter. His arm began to ache as he wrestled with the batter. Harry always made it look a lot easier.

When Louis couldn’t stand to churn the batter for any longer, he took out a cake pan and greased the tin generously so it wouldn’t stick. He poured the batter into the tin and took a moment to admire his handiwork.

There were still some butter chunks inside, and it overall looked a bit grainier than Harry’s did. But Louis was proud of it and he put it inside the oven to bake.

He flipped to the next recipe, this one for the chocolate frosting. It was much simpler than the cake batter. Louis retrieved a clean bowl and spatula and got to work.

He put in butter, cocoa, sugar, and cream and began to work them together. Soon the consistency was that of rubber cement, too tough to be considered appetizing. Louis reviewed the recipe and wasn’t sure why it wasn’t turning out. Perhaps he had measured out something wrong.

He noticed in parentheses it stated he could add more cream to fluff it up, although it didn’t clarify how much. Louis bit his lip as he poured in a liberal amount of cream. Almost instantly he could tell it was too much.

The frosting turned a bit runny now, almost the consistency of soup. Louis debated on whether or not he should abandon this try and start fresh when the oven timer went off.

He decided to fight the frosting battle later and focus on the cake. Louis opened the oven door and the delicious, homely smell of cake drifted into the air. Louis sniffed appreciatively and peered down to inspect his masterpiece.

The cake was flat. It hadn’t risen nearly as much as he had expected it to.

Louis, slightly panicked, put on oven mitts and took the cake pan out of the oven and put it on the counter next to the frosting. Why hadn’t it risen?

Louis glanced at the clock. Harry was going to be home in a few hours, and the recipe clearly said that the cake would some time in the fridge to set before it could be cut into and eaten successfully. He didn’t have time to make a whole new cake.

Did it need more time in the oven? Louis didn’t think so, as his cake looked darker than the picture the recipe had. Had he managed to burn it, too? Louis put in a toothpick and quickly pulled it out and looked for any raw batter on the wood. When he didn’t see any, he at least figured that it was cooked all the way through.

“Well, I guess that’s as good as it’s going to get,” Louis sighed.

He rolled his shoulders back a few times before turning back to his frosting. It surely wasn’t something that a bit of decoration couldn’t fix.

Louis scooped up some frosting and put it onto the top of the cake. There was no going around the fact that it was a bit thin, but give it two or three coats and Louis was sure it would be fine.

Spreading icing evenly on a cake was much more difficult than Louis anticipated. It seemed that every time one section looked good, another had gotten messed up somehow. Some of the icing was sort of transparent and you can see a bit of cake underneath, and some was so thickly spread that it changed the shape of the cake.

When Louis deemed that it looked presentable, he put on two candles he had bought. They were the letters H and S, and Louis propped them up with small boulders of icing around their bases.

Louis groaned in relief when he realized he had finished. The kitchen was a disaster, with spills and dirty dishes everywhere, but Louis thought it looked like a battlefield on which he was a victor. He carefully put the cake in a space he had cleared out in the fridge for it to cool and set properly.

With that, he began to clean up. Louis whistled cheerfully while he scrubbed the dishes, intermittently checking the clock, waiting for Harry’s arrival.

**~~> > > < < <~~ **

“Boobear!” Harry shouted when he walked through the front door.

“Hazza!” Louis yelped, scrambling off the couch where he was playing FIFA.

Harry dropped his duffel bag in the foyer and ran into Louis’ awaiting arms. Louis buried his nose the the crook of Harry’s neck and took a long breath in.

“I missed you.” Harry’s voice was muffled into Louis’ shoulder.

“I missed you, too.” Louis gently pecked the underside of Harry’s jaw. “Happy birthday, love.”

“Thanks,” Harry grinned sheepishly.

“How was your family?” Louis asked, pulling Harry into the living room.

They collapsed together on the couch, with Harry nestled in between Louis’ legs. Louis absentmindedly began to play with Harry’s curls as he talked about the trip.

“They’re good,” Harry said, linking his arms around Louis’ calves. “I had some fun with Gemma. We can’t go out much anymore, but I didn’t get seen by any paps. Oh, and Mum made the best roast for my birthday.”

Louis’ heart jumped. He wondered how his cake would compare to Anne’s roast. He hoped they would be comparable, but he knew that Anne’s roasts were Harry’s favorite.

“What did you do?” Harry asked, twisting around to see Louis. Louis quickly put on a smile.

“Sat around missing you,” he murmured, pressing a kiss onto Harry’s mouth.

Harry giggled and before returning the kiss slowly. Louis wondered if Harry could hear his heart pounding against his ribcage.

“M’hungry,” Harry whined. Louis gasped in mock surprise.

“You’ve been home for 10 minutes and you’re hungry already?” Harry smiled bashfully as Louis clucked his tongue. “I guess I’ll have to see about that Chinese food now, then.”

Harry cheered and untangled himself from Louis as they got off the couch. Louis rang the Chinese place to order the food ahead of schedule while Harry freshened up from his trip.

While Harry was in the toilet, Louis snuck a peek inside the fridge. Some of the icing had dripped off the cake, but besides that it looked about the same.

The Chinese food came and Louis and Harry ate in comfortable conversation. Harry was not-so-slyly hinting at the fact that he wanted to know what Louis’ present for him was (a new leather journal with his name embossed on the front cover). But as Louis was expertly dodging Harry’s attempts to wiggle the answer out of him, he could only think of his other surprise waiting in the fridge.

When their cartons of meat and rice were empty, Louis cleared his throat.

“I actually have something else for you.”

“Oh?” Harry raised an eyebrow.

“Close your eyes,” Louis told him.

Harry obeyed and Louis hurried to the fridge. He took the cake out and hastily propped back up the H candle which had fallen to the side. He went back to their table where Harry was biting his lips and had his hands clasped together.

“I’m ready,” Harry grinned.

“Okay,” Louis replied anxiously. “Open!”

Harry’s eyes flew open and blinked twice as he took in the cake in front of him. It looked a little uglier out in the light of the room rather than the light of the fridge. But it showed true effort, which Louis thought made all the difference in the world.

“Lou.” Harry’s voice croaked with emotion. “It’s beautiful.”

“You think?” Louis checked hopefully. Harry looked up at him, eyes shining.

“Of course. It’s for me?”

“Well, it is your birthday,” Louis teased. Harry blushed and looked back at the cake. “I made it myself.”

“It looks delicious,” Harry commented. He leaned forward and sniffed deeply.

“I’ll go get a match for the candles and then we can eat!”

Louis nearly skipped back into the kitchen. A melodious verse repeated itself in his head: _Harry likes my cake, Harry likes my cake, Harry likes my cake_! Now all that was left was the taste, which Louis was sure would be fine. He rummaged around in the kitchen drawers before finding a box of matches. He went back out into the living room where Harry was taking a picture of the cake, making Louis’ heart soar.

Louis struck the match and a flame appeared. He quickly lit the candles and sang happy birthday as loudly as he could.

“Happy birthday to _you_ , happy birthday to _you_ ,” Louis crowed. Harry was beaming and giggling like a child. “Happy birthday _dear Hazza_! Happy birthday to _you_!”

Harry closed his eyes, scrunched up his nose, and his mouth moved slightly as Louis could tell he was making a wish. He blew out the two candles and Louis clapped.

“Thanks, Boobear,” Harry smiled. Louis leaned down to kiss him before going back into the kitchen to procure plates and cutlery.

Harry cut their pieces of cake, and at least to Louis it looked fine. Harry was glowing with affection, and Louis waited for him to get his slice so they could bite into it together.

“Ready?” Louis asked confidently.

“Ready,” Harry grinned. Louis and Harry both pierced a forkful of cake and bit into it.

It tasted awful.

It was dry as a bone, the result of being overcooked. Besides that, it had a lingering salty taste, although Louis thought he had measured everything correctly. The frosting was a sick, grainy texture and the chocolate flavour itself was bitter.

Louis’ eyes flew to Harry, who was chewing thoughtfully. Louis cringed when he heard a crunch from Harry’s mouth, probably an eggshell that had managed to sneak through.

“S’really good, Lou,” Harry told him brightly. His smile hadn’t faded in the slightest, and if Louis hadn’t tasted the cake he would’ve thought that Harry was being genuine.

“No it’s not,” Louis wailed, setting his slice down on the table.

Harry hesitated before eating another bite, as if trying to prove his point. Louis shook his head and stared down at his failed attempt of a cake.

“I like it,” Harry said stubbornly.

“S’the worst thing I’ve ever eaten.” Louis felt as if he could rip out his hair in frustration. “I thought I did it okay! You always make me nice things so I thought this year I would return the favour and now it’s all wrong!”

Harry swallowed and giggled a little. He stood up and walked over to Louis and pressed a giant kiss on his cheek.

“Louis, I love it. Is it the best cake in the world? Er, no, it’s not. But that’s fine!” Harry rushed to correct himself. “I’m so lucky to have you, Boobear.”

Louis looked up at him, a frown still on his face. “You mean it?”

“Of course,” Harry replied firmly. He kissed Louis before happily returning to his cake. “If you don’t finish your slice, I will,” he added cheekily.

Louis snorted and picked up his fork. “Not a chance, Hazza.”


End file.
